The sun spilled golden light across the turquoise waters of the Grand Line as Ace wobbled atop the deck of a stolen Marine ship. Beneath him, Lale's "repairs" consisted mostly of a few planks of wood—and a dangerous amount of optimism.
Lale frowned, holding a map upside down:
"Ace, this map is lying. It says there's an island right here, but…"
Ace laughed:
"Maybe the island knows how to swim!"
Suddenly, an unnatural plume of dark purple smoke rose from beneath the waves. The sea churned violently, and a ship emerged from the shadows, its hull black as tar and its sails tattered like ghostly wings. The flag read: Spiral Pirates.
At the head of the ship stood a tall man in a dramatic cape, flaring in the salty wind. His eyes burned with theatrical madness. He stepped forward and raised a hand.
"I am Shadow Spiral Drakos!"
His voice boomed across the water like a stage actor's final monologue.
"Captain of the Spiral Pirates! Wielder of the Spiral Spiral no Mi! I can twist flesh, steel, and even the very air into eternal spirals. This world is a stage—and I am its storm!"
He spun his hand once, and the air around his fingers coiled unnaturally.
"And now… allow me to introduce my delightful chaos-bringers!"
From the shadows stepped a calm figure, sipping tea from a porcelain cup even as the ship creaked with tension.
"Name's Broken Compass Veyne," he said in a voice so calm it was unnerving.
"Strategist of this disaster. With my Confuse Confuse no Mi, I scramble your sense of direction. Left becomes right, maps become lies, and sometimes… you even forget your own name."
He gave Lale a knowing look.
"What was yours again?"
Before Lale could answer, the deck clanged loudly as a metal boot struck the planks.
A loud, boisterous voice roared across the ship.
"I'M ZARA, THE IRON SNAKE!"
She slammed her metallic fist into her palm.
"With the power of the Metal Metal no Mi, I become living molten metal! Chains, hammers, spikes—I AM METAL!"
She grinned like a lunatic.
"And I EAT METAL FOR BREAKFAST!"
Veyne walked calmly toward Lale, his tea still steaming in one hand.
"So… what was your name?" he asked softly.
Lale activated her Sharingan. "Lale. And you?"
Veyne smirked. "Confuse Touch."
He tapped two fingers together—and instantly, Lale's mind blurred. The deck spun. Up felt like down. Her arms felt wrong—too long, too unfamiliar.
"Why… can't I hold the map straight?!" she muttered, dizzy.
Veyne sat on a barrel and sipped tea peacefully, watching her stumble around like a toddler in a funhouse.
"Oh, a rare flower indeed," he said as Lale struggled.
For a moment, Lale's three-tomoe Sharingan spun with intensity, breaking through the confusion. She focused, formed a hand sign, and blasted Veyne with a ball of fire.
The strategist barely had time to dodge as the flames engulfed the barrel beneath him, sending him tumbling overboard.
Zara lunged with metal arms extended like coiled whips.
"IRON FIST!" she roared.
Ace countered with a burst of fire—but her metal limbs absorbed the heat, glowing red but undamaged.
"Impressive. Fire-resistant, huh?" he said.
"I! AM! METAL!" Zara bellowed.
Ace launched a burning spear—Hiken: Shinka—straight into her chest. But she morphed into molten metal, absorbing the attack with a cackling laugh.
"WORTHLESS!" she yelled.
Ace's eyes narrowed. "Then let's try science."
From afar, Lale formed signs—Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!—and hurled a giant fireball. Ace manipulated the flames with a magnetic twist, creating a swirling field of fire that enveloped Zara's metallic body.
"WAIT—THAT'S CHEATING—" Zara cried, melting and panicking.
Ace smirked. "Knowledge is power."
Drakos spread his arms wide, his body twisting into a vortex. The deck beneath them warped like paper caught in a whirlpool.
"THE WORLD IS A SPIRAL! AND I—ITS KING!" he shouted.
Lale rolled her eyes. "So poetic…"
Ace attacked head-on, fists blazing. But each punch twisted into a useless angle as Drakos's spiral body deflected them.
"Even fire can be bent," Drakos mocked.
Lale's Sharingan spun like a cyclone.
"Ace! Distract him!"
Ace summoned a storm of flames while Lale focused her chakra.
"Genjutsu: Nejikan no Jutsu!"
Suddenly, Drakos froze. His eyes widened. Before him, the entire universe bent into a singular spiral—a maddening, beautiful illusion.
"Magnificent…!" he whispered.
Ace took the chance: "Hiken: Dai Enkai Entei!"
A massive ring of fire exploded from his hands, slamming Drakos off the ship and into the sea.
As the enemy ship fled, battered and broken, Ace and Lale collapsed onto the deck, breathing hard.
Ace grinned. "Those were the most entertaining pirates yet."
Lale smirked. "Every fight is fun for you."
Ace noticed a small cut on Lale's cheek. He gently wiped it with his thumb.
"You're hurt again," he said.
Lale slightly blushed. "It's nothing."
For a heartbeat, their eyes met… then—
A jellyfish slapped itself onto Ace's neck.
"WHAT THE—?!" Ace screamed.
Lale burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"JUSTICE!"
As the sun dipped below the horizon, their ship sailed onward.
Perhaps next time, something more would bloom between them...
TO BE CONTINUED